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Niger Gov Advocates More Freedom For Media

The Niger State Governor,
Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has advocated that more freedom be granted
to the media to enable them perform their professional duties.

Governor Bello said this
was because “the growth and development of democracy in Nigeria is
essentially dependent on the level of freedom of the press”.

The governor, who stated
this in Minna in a statement to commemorate the 2018 World Press Freedom
Day, said: “Freedom of speech and information are fundamental rights of
individuals and cannot be trampled upon.”

In the statement signed on
his behalf by his Chief Press Secretary, Malam Jibrin Baba Ndace, the
governor also affirmed that the “freedom of the press is not negotiable
in any civilised society”.

‎”The governor appreciates
the efforts and contributions of the press to national development,” he
said, adding that: “The country’s struggles before and after
independence as well as during the military era wouldn’t have been
successful without the patriotic support of the press.”

In a similar development,
the Niger State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has
said that ‎for democracy to thrive and serve the purpose of
participatory governance, the media should at all times be allowed
independently to promote transparency in the political process and
leadership to the extent that people charged with responsibility of
governance would be held accountable.

In the statement jointly
signed by the Chairman, Alhaji Abdul Idris, and Secretary, Malam Abu
Nmadu, journalists in the state were committed to ensuring transparency
and accountability in political leadership in line with the of ethics of
the profession.

According to the union,
“Niger State like any developing society had its peculiar and
contemporary challenges of ensuring press freedom” but added that “the
challenges are surmountable with constant engagements to make the people
in position of authority understand the importance of the media.‎

“The independence and media
literacy of the populace about the political and judicial system,
through the accountability of state institutions to the public has been
the guiding principle of the practising journalists in the state.”